For the first time in school history, the Eudora High Boys Basketball team brought home a state Basketball Championship. This is only the third time any team in Eudora has earned the crown of State Champions. The 1996 Boys Cross Country earned the school it’s first State Championship and the 2006 Girls Volleyball team also won a state title.

Eudora won the 2014 Class 4A – Division II title by defeating the Scott City Beavers 71-58 Saturday night in Park City, KS. Scott City had been the champions of Class 3A the last three years, and proved that we ready to play in 4A Div. II.

Andrew Ballock goes for a layup in the victory against Scott City in the 4A Div. II State Champhionship game (Photo by Eudorareporter.com Photojournalist Julie Stewart)

The Cardinals came out relaxed and ready to play in the Championship game and held firm despite a tough offense from Scott City. In the second quarter, the Cards started to increase the margin and had a 13 point lead going to half time. The Cards scored quickly in the 2nd off, but Scott City proved why they were champions of Class 3A. After the Cardinals built a 17 point lead, the Beavers came back as if they were on fire and ripped off 25 points in the 3rd quarter.

Eudora Head Coach Kyle Deterding was frustrated enough with the Scott City comeback that he received a technical foul at the 5:44 mark for stepping onto the court. The Cardinals pulled it together in the fourth quarter led by brothers Andrew and Mitchell Ballock. Freshman Mitchell Ballock scored a game high 20 points on the night, followed by his brother Senior Andrew Ballock who knocked down 19 points. Sophomore Austin Downing and Senior Zach Scroggin contributed 14 and 11 points respectively to help lead the Cardinals to victory.

“This is great,” Senior Andrew Ballock Saturday Saturday night. “I love playing with the team and I’m just glad we could finally get a State Championship. I’m going to miss these guys a lot but it was a lot of fun.”

The Cardinals did not have an easy run through the state tournament. On Friday, they fast Andale and then Scott City on Saturday night in the finals. Thinking about both games Andrew Ballock talked about the difficulties faced in both games.

“It was tough. Andale was a physically defensive team,” Ballock stated. “It was tough to score inside and luckily guys made plays down the stretch. Against Scott City, they made a nice run on us but we buckled down and got stops and eventually made our own run and got it done.”

Following the game players were welcomed back to Eudora in a late night ceremony at the Eudora High Gymnasium. Approximately 150 students and fans turned out at 12:30 AM Sunday to greet the team on their arrival from the Wichita area.